Hard Numbers: Namibia’s anti-LGBTQ ruling, Red Cross hacked, Biden to deliver N95 masks, North Korean compensation

Namibian citizen Phillip Luhl holds one of his twin daughters as he speaks to his Mexican husband Guillermo Delgado via Zoom meeting in Johannesburg, South Africa, April 13, 2021

2: Namibia’s High Court ruled against two gay couples seeking legal recognition of their marriages. The judge said she agreed with the couples, who are seeking residency or work authorizations for foreign-born spouses, but is bound by a Supreme Court ruling that deems same-sex relationships illegitimate.

515,000: The International Red Cross says hackers infiltrated its database, compromising the personal information of 515,000 vulnerable people, including migrants and those displaced by conflicts. The Geneva-based organization believes the hackers were likely criminals hoping to profit from the data breach.

400 million: As omicron continues to spread, the Biden administration will distribute 400 million free N95 masks to Americans starting next week. But some analysts have criticized the move, saying it will further disrupt supply chains.

240,000: A New York court ruled that the family of Otto Warmbier — a US student who died in 2017 after being detained by North Korea — should be awarded $240,000 in seized assets from Pyongyang. Plaintiffs in Japan and South Korea are pursuing similar legal avenues to hold the North accountable for human rights abuses.

More from GZERO Media

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro, his wife Cilia Flores, and Vice President of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela Diosdado Cabello participate in a rally during May Day celebrations in Caracas, Venezuela, on May 1, 2024.
REUTERS/Leonardo Fernandez Viloria

Until about two weeks ago, Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro looked like he’d managed to sideline the beleaguered opposition enough to ensure a win in this summer’s presidential election. Then came Edmundo González Urrutia.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump walks amid his trial for allegedly covering up hush money payments, at Manhattan Criminal Court on May 7, 2024, in New York City, U.S. Trump has been charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records, which prosecutors say was an effort to hide a potential sex scandal, both before and after the 2016 presidential election. Trump is the first former U.S. president to face trial on criminal charges.
Win McNamee/Pool via REUTERS

American cable news has been riveted for weeks by the courtroom spectacle of former president and current presidential candidate Donald Trump.

North Macedonia heads to the polls on Wednesday in a vote overshadowed by one big issue: disputes with neighbors that could derail the tiny Balkan republic’s fledgling EU membership bid.
REUTERS

North Macedonia heads to the polls on Wednesday in a vote overshadowed by one big issue: disputes with neighbors that could derail the tiny Balkan republic’s fledgling EU membership bid.

SOPA Images via Reuters

Running AI models requires higher-grade chips like NVIDIA's graphics processors, which have become industry standard.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (R) takes part in a class on generative artificial intelligence at the University of Tokyo in Japan's capital on Aug. 14, 2023.
Kyodo via Reuters Connect

Japan detailed a global framework for international cooperation on artificial intelligence on May 1, building off the Hiroshima Process announced at last year’s G7 summit.

IMAGO/Westlight

Artificial intelligence systems are trained on massive troves of data — but it could use some expert advice. After all, not all data is created equal.

The Humane AI Pin, an innovative wearable device that features a camera and a projector and can be worn as a chest pin or an accessory, is being exhibited at the SK Telecom pavilion during the Mobile World Congress 2024 in Barcelona, Spain, on April 2, 2024.
(Photo by Joan Cros/NurPhoto via Reuters)

Most AI companies are focused on software (such as chatbots and voice-cloning applications), or infrastructure (chips, cloud hosting, and data centers).